“We just don’t see a point of ever being on a label again”: M. Shadows on Avenged Sevenfold’s new chapter as a fully independent band

Is the concept of the record label obsolete? Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows certainly thinks so.

Earlier this year, the Huntington Beach metal outfit purchased back the master recordings for their 2016 album The Stage from Capitol Records, completing their transition to being a fully independent band for the first time in 26 years.

The move followed comments made by M. Shadows years prior in which he took aim at record labels. “You’re going to take 24 cents on our dollar and that’s all you can do, come up with a f**king fake viral TikTok moment?” he said.

Now, the singer has doubled down on his opinion that in 2026, record labels are no longer necessary to make it as an artist.

“Because of the way the music industry is now, we just don’t see a point of ever being on a label again. They really can’t do much for you,” he says in a new conversation with actor Nick Turturro. “They’ll tell you they can do a lot but they can’t. There’s no radio that matters. There’s no MTV. They’re gonna try to get you on TikTok which everyone can do themselves.”

Of course, once upon a time, record labels had more leverage in the ability to influence what was played on widely consumed channels like mainstream radio and MTV.

“They would hook you up with producers, engineers and mixers, and then they would pay Walmart and Target to put you on the endcaps,” Shadows continues. “And they would pay radio stations to play you. It was called ‘payola’ – it was illegal but they’d do it. And then they would go and hound MTV and get your records played on national television.

“Now it’s all gone. Now I upload something on YouTube and on TikTok, and I can go play shows. I can make more money in one show than it would cost to make a record, and when they give you the money, you’re paying four times what that money is to get it back. So, there’s just no point.”

Shadows encourages fledgling artists not to sign with major labels if they are able to go it alone.

“People are still very late to move,” he says. “They’re looking at it going, ‘Well, it’s really cool to tell my grandparents that I’m on Universal, but really Universal gives you $25,000, you have to make $100,000 to pay that back… And so if you can afford it yourself, you should do it yourself.”

While he notes that he’s “extremely grateful” to mediums like radio stations and MTV for “catapulting” Avenged Sevenfold to success, Shadows says those platforms led to a dilution of creativity, with musicians and labels chasing what they thought people would want to hear.

“When you have radio stations and MTV, you get a lot of favourites being played because this worked so go make more stuff like that. And there’s not a lot of creativity there,” he continues.

“It’s basically based on what people are listening to. And so the art form really becomes a full-on product. And that’s not really what music should be. It should be a free expression.”

Avenged Sevenfold have been on the cutting edge of fan club design since the launch of their NFT-based Deathbats Club in 2021. They also operate Deathbat Rewards, a free loyalty program through which fans can earn points by listening to their music, buying merch and attending shows, and spend those points on special perks.

“We’re taking power away from corporate networks, and saying, ‘No, we’re gonna reward our fans, not you,’” M. Shadows told MusicTech in 2024.

Recently, the band surprise-released a brand-new EP, STATICA. With a sound far removed from the twin guitars, earworm melodies and standard rock band instrumentation they’re known for, the EP has since divided fans…